That Which Makes Us Human
by Casteline
Summary: Post NFA. Four people is not an army, it’s pathetic.


**Title:** _That Which Makes Us Human _

**Summary:** _Post NFA. Four people is not an army, it's pathetic. _

**Pairings:** _None really. Maybe a slight hint at Willow/Fred (hehe, so cute) and Spuffy, but as I said, very faint. Hardly noticeable. If you're looking for Spuffy, I'm working on one now, it should be up in a week or two.

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_**That Which Makes Us Human **_

No one could have foreseen what happened next. The fates were not this cruel. The gods who deemed the future were only myth, legend, not based on reality. Not the ones who controlled this anyway. And yet it was happening. Thousands among thousands of hell-beasts and demon were gathered, preparing for their battle with humanity.

Standing in their way? Two injured half-breeds, a weakened Hell-God stuck in a human body, and a single human lying on his proverbial deathbed. The odds did not favor humanity.

Not that these four lone warriors had really expected to win. They knew they never had a chance. All they had was a few blood-stained weapons and the desire to go down fighting.

"In terms of a plan?" Spike asks.

"Fight," Angel replies.

"Bit more specific?"

"Well, personally, I'd like to slay the dragon."

The horde of demons begins to advance.

"Let's get to work," Angel says, brandishing his sword.

Then suddenly it all stops. Dead in their tracks, small, almost crystalline beads of water hung in the air.

"That can't be normal," Angel said, looking to the sky, where the ice blue dragon hung motionless.

Time stood still.

And there was silence. Absolute, perfect silence that left ears ringing.

"What the bloody hell?" Spike said as the dark sky faded to white.

"Figured you could use a hand," a familiar voice said.

"Willow?" Angel turned to see the witch standing a few feet behind Gunn.

"Hiya." She closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment. Seconds later others began to materialize around her. First Buffy, then a few girls that were presumably Slayers.

"Buffy," Spike said, somewhat worriedly.

"Hi there Blondie-bear," she replied, somewhat sarcastically.

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, you see, there's this thing you should know about Andrew. He's not so good at the secret keeping."

"I'd wondered how long that would last," Spike muttered.

"Longer than you might imagine actually. He only slipped up about… oh… two hours ago," Willow said.

"So I tried calling Angel, only, the line seemed to be busy. Finally the call got redirected to Harmony. Why? Don't know, not particularly sure if I want to. She informed me of the upcoming apocalypse you forgot to inform us about."

"Must have slipped my mind. What with all the fighting and killing," Angel said.

"Why didn't you call?" Buffy asked, directing her anger at Spike.

"I--" he began, but was cut off.

"We have a battle to lose," Illyria reminded the group.

"Fred?" Willow asked, just noticing the girl.

Illyria looked back at her. "This one is familiar to me," she said, completely without emotion.

"Everyone, meet Illyria. Illyria, meet everyone."

"What happened?" Willow asked.

"Long story that we will be sure to tell you. Assuming you send us back to our battle. And on the off chance that we survive, we'll fill you in," Angel said.

"Speaking of, where the hell are we?" Gunn asked.

"Astral plane. I froze the Earth and transported you here."

"Why?" Illyria asked.

"To help you fight this battle. Four people is not an army. In fact, it's kinda pathetic," Kennedy said.

"And you think a few little girls are going to tip the scale?" Illyria asked skeptically.

A second later she was lying on the ground, pinned down by something small and blonde.

"I think that an army of slayers might give us a fighting chance," Buffy said as the blue girl squirmed beneath her.

"Buffy," Angel said in a tone that clearly said 'don't hurt the demon that might save our asses'.

Buffy rolled her eyes and got to her feet, releasing the God.

"This. Body. Is. Useless," Illyria complained, rising to her feet.

"Then why'd you choose it?" Gunn pointed out.

"I didn't. That idiot human did."

"Back to the problem at hand," Willow said. "I'm going to send you all back down to L.A. Faith and the second wave will be there in 5 minutes. Then each consecutive group at 3 minute intervals. Good luck." And with a flash, Willow was left standing alone in the emptiness.

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"We won't win," Spike said as Buffy walked up beside him.

"Not a chance in hell," Angel said from his other side.

"Nope," Buffy agreed.

But that's what being human was. Knowing there wasn't a chance in hell. Fighting anyways. Because humanity isn't about winning. Its about fighting for what you believe in. Not giving into, just because you're afraid.

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Please review, it makes me feel good.

**_-- _**

I just wanted to take the time to thank one of my reviewers for this little tidbit...

_"This isnt bad but you have two enormous problems with this one, its entirely based Willow the superwitch and Buffy merry band of slayers come to save the day and your biggest error of all is that 15 slayers couldnt take Illyria much less one. You writing style however is quite good and you write dialouge very well just try for a more original idea" _

I'm going to say beforehand, that while it might sound like I'm trying to discredit what you're saying, I'm not. I do agree with exactly what you're on some level.

Yeah, Willow the super witch and Buffy's merry band of slayers did come; it wasn't so much to save the day as to die trying. They all know that they don't have a chance, but they'd all rather fight it out like animals than just let their world die.

Also, I do realize that a big group of slayers couldn't take down Illyria. However, I view Buffy as stronger, more experienced and more capable of doing so. Also, I have this little thought telling me that Illyria's time in our dimension and in a mortal body is taking a great toll on her strength. I know, they covered something along those lines in an episode and had that whole thing with taking a bunch of her power with that gun-thing, but I think that he power may still be draining and … yeah …

Anyways, thanks again for the review.

♥Ella


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